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Stang Symposium Addresses Social Justice

Chaminade Julienne seniors will present their work implementing projects to address social justice issues at the Sister Dorothy Stang Symposium. This event is open to the public Thursday, May 2 and begins at 6:30 p.m. in the CJ library. A reception will follow at 8 p.m.

This annual global issues and social justice symposium is named in honor of graduate and martyr Sr. Dorothy Stang, SNDdeN, ‘49. The focus of this year’s event surrounds the piloting of the cross-curricular Senior Capstone Project. Guests will choose to attend three of seven break-out sessions covering the following senior projects:

Senior Projects

HUMAN TRAFFICKING | ROOM 144Thomas Cox and Elizabeth Rosencrantz

One year after a school wide initiative to raise awareness about the global issue of human trafficking, specifically in regards to the sex trade, our project aims to further awareness in the community of not only the sex trade, but the labor side of trafficking as well, encompassing the globalization of modern day slavery. We worked with organizations in Dayton to understand the magnitude of the issue as well as what can be done to work against the problem. We created a short film to present findings, raise awareness, and identify the organizations and efforts in order to inspire others to work for change on a local, national, or global level.

MUSIC ACCESS FOR THE ELDERLY | ROOM 149Kathryn Marshall

My primary focus was access to music for the elderly citizens in retirement facilities. Through discussion with a music therapist, as well as outside research and personal experience I became more aware of the importance of music. The project consisted of CJ’s Brass Quartet playing at retirement communities throughout the Dayton area, including 10 Wilmington Place and Mercy Siena.

OPTIONS FOR WOMEN IN UNPLANNED PREGNANCIES | ROOM 150Carly Meixner

For my project about options for women in unplanned pregnancies, I created a vlog (video blog) series. I plan to post the vlogs on YouTube. By making these vlogs accessible to anyone on the Internet, they can help people who I could never meet personally, and they can continue to help people even after this project is done.

BULLYING | ROOM 151Shaylynn Green, Mikaela Hadaway, and Maria Wade

We surveyed classmates about bullying and researched its causes and effects, and what can be done to prevent it in schools. We gathered information into one source and with the help of fellow senior, Jacob Wells, we created a video of our findings. We shared this video and research with many CJ religion classes, and gave a presentation to students at St. Albert the Great. We also sold “Bullying Awareness” t-shirts to students at CJ to wear May 2 — a day dedicated to raising awareness about bullying across the nation.

HOMELESSNESS | ROOM 249Matthaus Ayers and Emily Shira

Our project idea was a “Shanty Town” school event to increase homelessness awareness and education on the issue. The Shanty Town put homelessness into perspective through simulations of real life poverty and assigned identities of impoverished people for the students. We hope the education and experience we provided will stimulate interest and concern for the issue of homelessness locally and nationally.

WOMEN AND CHILDREN IN POVERTY | ROOM 250Gretchen Bruggeman and Clare Geraghty

After spending time researching homelessness, we focused on the impact of homelessness on children. We conducted interviews with kids and parents facing this issue. We created a website to spread awareness for the voices of children in poverty who are unheard. We presented our findings at Emily and Matthaus’ Shanty Town.

THE DISABLED AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES | ROOM 251Jamel Sanders

Throughout the world, there are people who are not as physically able as others. Paraplegics are not blessed with the physical ability that most people take for granted. Seeing paraplegics and disabled children, people tend to feel a sense of sympathy, but rarely socialize with them. I planned a field day for the mentally or physically disabled people in our community. The goal was to show them that being active can be fun and good for their health.